10 countries where people live longest

Life expectancy in the U.S. has risen in the past few decades. While in 1970 life expectancy at birth was 70.9 years, it rose to 78.7 years by 2011. However, most of the developed world is improving that rate faster than the U.S. And in spite of the fact that the U.S. spends vastly more per capita on health care than any other country, Americans’ life expectancy is only 26th highest.

The Organizations for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released a report highlighting the latest life expectancy figures for its 34 member nations as well as several other developed nations. Residents in countries with higher life expectancy tend to be healthier. In six of the 10 countries, more than three quarters of adult residents surveyed in 2011 reported being in good health, compared with the OECD average of 69%. Residents of countries with high life expectancy also tend to have lower incidence of serious diseases and lower rates of death when they contract these illnesses. The majority of these countries have below-average rates of cancer mortality and diabetes. Based on the OECD’s report Health at a Glance 2013, these are the 10 nations with the highest life expectancy. In addition to reviewing life expectancy data, 24/7 Wall St. also considered data on medical care, health spending and national-level demographics. Much of the data used in the report was collected in 2011 or earlier, including life expectancy at birth, which is as of 2011. From 24/7 Wall St., these are the countries where people live longest:

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10. Norway

Life expectancy: 81.4

GDP per capita: $61,060 (the highest)

Health spending per capita: $5,669 (2nd highest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 73.3 (15th highest)

Likely due to large oil reserves in the North Sea, Norway has been among the wealthiest nations in the world for several years now. Only the U.S. spent more on health care per capita than Norway in 2011. Unlike the U.S., however, health coverage in Norway is universal, like nearly all other OECD countries. Like other members of the European Union, the country provides health coverage to visiting EU residents. In 2011, 17% of Norwegians were smoking daily, below the OECD average, and nearly 50% less than in 1990, the largest reduction in smoking habits out of all countries reviewed.

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9. Israel

Life expectancy: 81.8

GDP per capita: $28,958 (18th lowest)

Health spending per capita: $2,239 (16th lowest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 81.5 (6th highest)

Among the nations with the highest life expectancy, Israel spent the least on health care in 2011. The country’s GDP per capita is also low relative to the rest of the nations with high life expectancy. Despite the populace’s reported long life-expectancy, the proportion of elderly Israelis over 65 was well below the OECD average of 15.1%, at 9.9% in 2010. More than many other countries measured by the OECD, Israel’s population has been relatively young in recent years, and its population is growing. Alcohol consumption in Israel was among the lowest in 1990 and continues to be relatively low as of 2007, the most recent data available. Between those years, however, alcohol consumption among adults increased by more than 33%, one of the largest increases.

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8. Sweden

Life expectancy: 81.9

GDP per capita: $41,461 (8th highest)

Health spending per capita: $3,925 (12th highest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 79.9 (8th highest)

In 1970, Sweden’s life expectancy at birth was the best in the world at 74.8 years. By 2011, life expectancy rose to almost 82 years. Sweden is renowned for its universal health care system, which was introduced in 1913 and was the world’s first. Further, HelpAge International’s “Global AgeWatch 2013 Index” ranked Sweden the best country for older people to live in this year. The country had one of the lowest rates of cancer mortality among nations reviewed by the OECD. Just 13.1% of Swedes smoked daily in 2011, better than every nation reviewed except for India.

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7. Australia

Life expectancy: 82.0

GDP per capita: $44,201 (4th highest)

Health spending per capita: $3,800 (13th highest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 85.4 (4th highest)

Australian adults were among the most likely in the developed world to state they were in good health, at 85.4% as of 2011. This trails just three other nations: the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand. But despite claims they are healthy, Australians were more likely to be obese than residents in nearly all other OECD nations. Only Mexico and the U.S. had higher obesity rates than Australia’s. One factor in which the country performs well is smoking. Just 15.1% of adults smoked as of 2010, versus an average of 20.9% across the OECD.

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6. France

Life expectancy: 82.2

GDP per capita: $35,395 (16th highest)

Health spending per capita: $4,118 (10th highest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 67.6 (15th lowest)

The life expectancy of French women — as well as Japanese women — was nearly 86 years in 2011, the longest of all countries measured by the OECD. On the other hand, the life expectancy of French males — 78.7 — was just 13th that year. More than 5% of France’s population was over 80 years old in 2010, more than every country reviewed except for Japan and Italy. Death from cerebrovascular diseases, which includes strokes and aneurysms, occurred at among the lowest rates, at around 40 deaths per 100,000 French residents, second only to Switzerland.

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5. Spain

Life expectancy: 82.4

GDP per capita: $33,045 (18th highest)

Health spending per capita: $3,072 (20th highest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 75.3 (13th highest)

The life expectancy of a Spanish child born in 2011 was 82.4 years. The country’s mortality rates from cancer, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease were all lower than the OECD averages. Spain had just 3.2 hospital beds per 1,000 residents in 2011, versus 4.8 on average for the OECD and 13.4 beds per 1,000 residents in Japan. Spain’s population is expected to age in the coming decades, and in 2050 more than 36% are expected to be senior citizens, the highest proportion of any nation in Europe.

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4. Iceland

Life expectancy: 82.4

GDP per capita: $36,611 (14th highest)

Health spending per capita: $3,305 (17th highest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 77.8 (9th highest)

Among Icelandic men, life-expectancy at birth was over 80 years in 2011, the highest compared with men in all other countries reviewed by the OECD. Women in Iceland, however, were expected to live 84 years, only eighth highest out of the 40 nations measured. Only 14.3% of Iceland’s population were daily smokers as of 2011, less than all but three other countries reviewed. Alcohol consumption in 1990 was low compared with most European countries. 18 years later, alcohol consumption was still relatively low, at just over seven liters per person, less than most other developed nations. However, Icelanders’ alcohol consumption had increased by 40%, more than almost every country surveyed by the OECD. Among Icelandic adults between the ages of 20 and 80 years, just over 3% were estimated to have had diabetes in 2011, the lowest proportion of any country reviewed and considerably better than the U.S.’s 9.8% rate.

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3. Japan

Life expectancy: 82.7

GDP per capita: $33,843 (17th highest)

Health spending per capita: $3,213 (18th highest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 30 (the lowest)

Although life expectancy at birth in Japan was tied with Italy for second-highest out of all nations measured by the OECD, Japanese women were expected to have the longest lives when compared with women in all the other countries measured. Japan also had the largest elderly population as of 2010. That year, 23% of the population was at least 65 years old, while 6.4% was at least 80 years old, both the most of any country the OECD reviewed. These numbers are expected to jump substantially to 38.8% and 16.5%, respectively, by 2050. Japan’s population is quite healthy by several measures. Mortality due to heart disease occurred just 39 times per 100,000 people, lower than in any other country and more than three times better than the U.S. Just 4.1% of Japanese adults were obese in 2011, versus 36.5% in the U.S. At left, shoppers buy salmon filets in Tokyo's Sugamo district.

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2. Italy

Life expectancy: 82.7

GDP per capita: $32,648 (19th highest)

Health spending per capita: $3,012 (20th lowest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 64.7 (11th lowest)

Italian health care spending totaled just over $3,000 per capita in 2011, lower than many nations measured by the OECD. There were more than four doctors per 1,000 residents in 2011, more than the OECD average of 3.16 per 1,000 and the highest measured. Although smoking rates in Italy didn't drop as dramatically in recent years as in other countries, alcohol consumption fell and just 10% of adults were obese, compared with an adult obesity rate of 17.6% across the OECD. The country has also had to deal with the changing dietary habits of its residents who consume much less than before the “Mediterranean diet” — a diet that emphasized fruits, vegetables, and olive oil and is often regarded as healthy.

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1. Switzerland

Life expectancy: 82.8

GDP per capita: $51,227 (2nd highest)

Health spending per capita: $5,643 (3rd highest)

Percentage of adults reporting good health: 81.3 (7th highest)

Switzerland had the world’s longest life expectancy at birth at nearly 83 years as of 2011 — 10 years longer than it was in 1970. Switzerland’s health care expenditure totaled $5,643 per person, the third highest out of countries measured by the OECD. Residents’ out-of-pocket expenditures accounted for 3.8% of household income, more than in all but 6 OECD nations. Although the Alpine country is hardly alone in providing residents with universal coverage, Switzerland’s system has frequently been compared with the Affordable Care Act because it requires residents to purchase private health insurance. Swiss residents are quite healthy, with lower cerebrovascular and cancer mortality rates than nearly all other nations measured by the OECD. At left, people walk under Christmas lights during a snowfall on the Bahnhofstrasse shopping street in Zurich. Read more about the countries where people live longest at 24/7 Wall St.

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